BOOM!
The atmosphere turned awkward in an instant.
You could clearly see a faint flush of anger creep across Liu Yue's icy-cold face, her fists tightening for a split second.
That reaction told you everything—you'd guessed right.
As far back as your two previous Villain Simulations, you'd noticed that Liu Yue always ended up in your grasp far too easily. Could it be that this mysterious Celestial had been coveting you this entire time?
Yet the funny thing was, it didn't seem like she actually liked you. Because in the final moments of both previous simulations, she'd never lifted a finger to save you.
But this time? You'd ignored her completely from the start, never even bothering to pick up the drunk Liu Yue like you had before. And yet, she'd stepped in to save your life at the moment of your greatest peril.
「If I had to guess, her real goal is to get my bloodline!」「Take the child, discard the father!」「Until she achieves that goal, she won't let me die—she'll keep protecting me.」「So that's it. There have always been two forces at play in Magic City: one trying to kill me, and the other trying to keep me alive!」
You had no idea why Liu Yue wanted to protect you. Maybe she hoped to replicate the Supreme Imperial Bone in your body through your bloodline, or maybe it was something else entirely.
But at this moment, one thing was crystal clear to you: she'd never harbored any malicious intent toward you from the very beginning.
That was the biggest takeaway of all.
If she'd wanted to, she could've used brute force to get what she wanted long ago. Instead, she'd been biding her time, taking a gentle, gradual approach.
In a way, it seemed like she actually respected your choice?
「This might be my breakthrough. I can use Liu Yue to find out what's going on in Qianyuan's imperial capital—especially about the Sun family's situation.」
A spark of hope flared in Sun Qian's heart. He instantly realized this was a golden opportunity.
Liu Yue, this mysterious Celestial, clearly knew a great deal.
The power backing her was probably strong enough to not fear the mastermind behind the scenes. Otherwise, she never would've dared to kill the Ghost Physician so openly.
As long as the "you" inside the Villain Simulator wasn't an idiot, you'd seize this chance to ask her for answers.
And right now, the "you" in the simulator was doing exactly that.
You sensed her goodwill, and you also realized this might be your only shot at uncovering the truth.
「Your Excellency, could you please tell me—」
BAM!
A heavy blow slammed into your skull.
In the last moment before you lost consciousness, you saw a certain enraged Celestial clenching her delicate fists tightly.
「You know far too much for your own good.」
Liu Yue's soft, haunting voice echoed in your ears.
Then everything went black.
You slipped into unconsciousness.
While you were out cold, you got slapped.
You lost your innocence.
Then you got slapped again.
....
Sun Qian: ???
No way! I messed up big time!
You'd thought this was your chance to get to the bottom of everything. But instead, you'd made her so angry she'd punched you out cold.
If you'd known this would happen, you never would've provoked her.
Of course, Sun Qian didn't actually believe she'd lost her temper over something so trivial. There had to be another reason.
「Liu Yue's acting so out of character—suddenly this domineering. Something must be wrong.」「She probably thinks she won't be able to protect me much longer. That's why she's rushing her 'take the child, discard the father' plan—so much so that she can't even bother to respect my 'choice' anymore.」
Sun Qian's expression turned grave as he continued to watch the events unfolding in the Villain Simulator.
After an unknown amount of time trapped in darkness, your consciousness began to stir.
Right before you fully woke up, you faintly heard Liu Yue's soft, murmuring voice.
「You shouldn't have revealed that you can cultivate. It's forced some people into a corner—they'll stop at nothing now.」
Forced into a corner!
Sun Qian heard the underlying urgency in her words.
Could it be that everything that had happened—all the mastermind's madness—was because you'd shown you could cultivate?
It even explained why, in this simulation, they'd sent a Celestial powerhouse like the Ghost Physician to kill you so early.
Even though Liu Yue had stepped in to save you this time, the dangers to come were probably so great that even she found them daunting—maybe even impossible to resist.
「This is bad. It seems that until I've mastered my skills and become invincible, I can never let anyone know I can cultivate. Otherwise, it'll only drive the mastermind to hunt me down relentlessly.」「Makes sense. With the Supreme Imperial Bone's incredible effects, given enough time, I'd quickly rise to become a top-tier powerhouse. And then they'd be the ones in trouble.」「It looks like the mastermind knows exactly how powerful the Supreme Imperial Bone really is.」
.....
You woke up.
Gazing at the unfamiliar landscape surrounding you—an endless, vast forest filled with dense spiritual energy—you realized you were no longer in Magic City. You were probably trapped inside a secret realm space!
You glanced down at your wrist, where your virgin mark had once been. It was gone, without a trace.
Clearly, Liu Yue had taken the most precious part of you.
But at this moment, you couldn't care less about that. Her final, haunting words echoed in your mind on repeat.
Your ability to cultivate had forced some people into a corner.
But how had the mastermind found out about it?
In this simulation, only three people knew you could cultivate: Sun Zhong, Su Meng, and Liu Yue.
Su Meng, your double, had died for you—so he could be ruled out.
Liu Yue, the Celestial who'd saved your life—she could be ruled out too.
That left only one possibility: your protector, Sun Zhong, had leaked the information!
「Either Sun Zhong was captured and subjected to a soul search on his way back to the Sun family in the imperial capital, or there's a traitor within the Sun family who's causing all this trouble.」
Deep down, you leaned toward the first possibility.
After all, the mastermind had gone through so much trouble to lure you to Magic City—they'd definitely set up ambushes on all the routes leading out of the city.
But no matter which one it was, you knew your previous schemes had definitely doomed Sun Zhong.
And by extension, they'd doomed the entire Sun family.
If you hadn't revealed that you could cultivate—and that you'd already reached the Fourth Realm of Arcane Power—none of these catastrophic changes would've happened.
You knew regret was useless; you had no choice but to face reality.
Now you were trapped in an unknown secret realm, unable to leave, with no way of knowing what was happening in the outside world.
You reached behind your back, touching the spot where your Supreme Imperial Bone lay. To your surprise, Liu Yue hadn't taken it from you. She'd left it intact, giving you a slim chance to survive—to cling to life by a thread.
But your dantian was shattered, your cultivation completely gone. You were a cripple now, unable to cultivate ever again.
You refused to give up. If you couldn't cultivate, then you'd hone your skills instead.
You struggled to gather the tiniest wisp of spiritual energy—even though your dantian was broken, and the energy would dissipate in seconds. In that fleeting moment before it vanished, you opened your storage pouch and pulled out blank talisman paper, a talisman brush, and ink.
You resolved to calm your mind and refine your talisman-crafting skills to the utmost limit...
A month passed. You found your understanding of talismans growing deeper and more profound.
Two months passed. You began to cautiously attempt drawing Fourth-Tier Talismans, pushing yourself beyond your limits.
Three months later. You successfully drew a Fourth-Tier Talisman. Without spiritual energy or intent to power it, it was little more than a useless piece of paper—but you were overjoyed beyond words.
At this moment, you were officially a Fourth-Tier Talisman Master. But without cultivation or spiritual energy, you were still no different from a useless cripple.
You knew wandering around the secret realm would be far too dangerous for a powerless man like you, so you stayed hidden in a nearby cave.
You fell into a state of obsession, drawing talismans like a madman, day and night.
Gradually, the food in your storage pouch began to run out. So you started eating the blank talisman paper just to stay alive.
Half a year later. You were skin and bones, starving, your eyes glowing with a feral green light—but you were still completely lost in the world of talismans.
CRACK!
A fissure tore open in the fabric of the secret realm.
A voice brimming with delight suddenly echoed through the air:「It took quite some effort to wipe out the traitors of the Sun family, but I finally found you.」
「Wiped out the traitors of the Sun family?!」
You snapped out of your talisman-induced trance, jolted awake by those words.
BOOM!
A terrifying aura descended from above, pinning you to the ground instantly. It crushed you into a bloody pulp.
You died!